In 2022, we unfortunately lost one of our younger members in a tragic accident, pursuing the outdoor hobbies he loved the most. Haydn has been etched into Leigh & Lowton history by having this event renamed after him. A one minute silence was held before racing started on this inaugural Haydn Griffiths RNLI Open Trophy Day. Members and visitors young and old gathered to make this such a special occasion. So many stories exchanged during the day and all the...
The Tipsy Icicle Series has provided dinghy racing for NW sailors for decades and in its 2nd year back from CoVID disruptions it provided the great racing it has become known for. Across the series 160 sailors competed making this still the biggest club dinghy winter series in the UK and one we all look forward to. Prizewinners were spread across many different clubs, with a good proportion of the North West’s clubs participating. The Asymmetric Fleet has grown and...
A glorious winter day at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club welcomed the 50+ competitors for the long-running New Year’s Day race. The wind maps were showing various different forecasts for the day, with competitors concluding that a gentle SSW was the most likely outcome. This proved to be accurate as the Optimists got things underway in a zephyr of a F1. Along with the Toppers and Fevas a fleet of juniors totalling 12 in number were out early. The breeze...
80 competitors took to the water across the 2022 Revett Series at Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club, held over the 6 weekends before Xmas. The range of conditions was immense with sunshine and light winds week 1, a big thunderstorm with 180 degree shifts and hail week 2 and ending up with a frozen lake on the final weekend!! The OODs did well to get the full quota of races in when the wind and ice allowed. As ever, the...
Leigh & Lowton SC kicked off their winter programme with the traditional Guy Fawkes Pursuit. Forecasters were predicting anything from 8 to 25 knots in the run-up to the event, so it was a major upset when competitors arrived to a near flat calm. The talk ashore was all about this being a fast boat’s race as the wind was expected to build. The juniors started in a gentle breeze, navigating the holes in the course as best they could,...
I know that by now most people will be aware of the tragedy that befell Haydn Griffiths whilst swimming off New Brighton Beach on Tuesday 19th July. He would have been 24 years old on the 21st July still just setting out on his life’s Journey. In truth any words that I put down here cannot match the tribute paid to him by his family in the Leigh Journal which has been shared on the Facebook page and the 24/7...
In the absence of other events running, the sailors at Leigh & Lowton decided the North West needed a long-distance race somewhere in the season. They concluded that overnight sailing was too precarious to allow a 24hr race in the deep waters of the Flash and full darkness, so the concept of a Sunrise to Sunset Race was born, on a weekend close to the Summer Solstice. The eye-watering 4:40am start had the opening shift sailors all groggily pulling up...
Pit your wits against the Menai Straits in our 75th Anniversary regatta & Celebration party on 9th & 10th July. Book online at www.pdsc.org.uk
A fantastic new facility has been installed to allow safer access to the waters of Leigh & Lowton Sailing Club for club members, and especially for those with restricted mobility. The replacement of the old, dilapidated pontoon with a 3m wide highly stable platform will transform the ability of the club to provide accessible sailing for all, complementing the existing Hansa fleet of boats that the club has had on site for many years. The project was devised, designed and...
Leigh & Lowton SC restarted their annual Guy Fawkes Pursuit Race on Sunday 7th November, having had to cancel last year for COVID lockdown reasons. The forecast for the day was for a squally one with gusts of up to 30 knots – the reality did not disappoint. Many resisted the temptation to go afloat and of those that didn’t, some were back ashore without troubling the start line, due to breakages or big swims! The juniors were not deterred...